Bard’s beloved Spiegeltent returns for SummerScape 2012
The opening of the 2012 Bard SummerScape festival on Friday, July 6, signals the return of the authentic, one-of-a-kind Belgian Spiegeltent, the luxurious “tent of mirrors” that has proved such a sensation since 2006, when its introduction to Bard marked the first time one of these fabled old-world structures appeared in America; the New York Times pronounced it “agreeably funky,” while the Village Voice praised its “wooden floors, mirrored walls, stained-glass panels, and red velvet ceiling.” Conveniently situated near the Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center, the Spiegeltent affords a sumptuous and magical environment in which to enjoy cutting-edge cabaret and world-class musical performances – almost all of which have sold out in recent years – plus family fare, late-night dancing, and tasty refreshments throughout the seven-week festival (July 6 – August 19). In accord with the 23rd Bard Music Festival’s exploration of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (“Saint-Saëns and His World”), many of this season’s Spiegeltent offerings – from the cabaret act “The Kid from Paris: Jean Brassard sings Yves Montand” on Bastille Day to a pair of family concerts featuring Saint-Saëns’ beloved Carnival of the Animals – share a distinctly Gallic flavor.
Back for its seventh consecutive SummerScape season, Bard’s glittering “Mirror Tent” was originally from Europe, where such tents and the special entertainment they host have been a beloved tradition for the past century. The Spiegeltent is a marvel of engineering, comprising 3,000 detachable parts, with a spellbinding interior of carved wood surfaces, parquet floor, beveled mirrors, stained-glass windows, and splendid velvet canopies. On weekend afternoons and evenings all summer long, the theater-in-the-round – encircled by audience members seated at booths and tables – is the stage for a variety of performers, from cabaret acts and musicians to dancers and jugglers. Before and after performances, the Spiegeltent provides the ideal setting to enjoy light fare, meals, and drinks chosen from the best offerings of the Hudson Valley’s rich array of farms, orchards, dairies, wineries, and breweries. And, back by popular demand, sparkling Irish émigré Nik Quaife returns as SpiegelMaestro.
Friday and Saturday nights are for adults only, with Evening Cabaret featuring colorful entertainment with a downtown edge for hip audiences. Returning this year are the seductive slapstick of the Wau Wau Sisters and the ever-popular Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, while new acts include the critical darling French Canadian-American singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright and a new show by award-winning comedienne Jackie Hoffmann. Friday and Saturday nights continue with the SpiegelClub, which offers a late-night bar and dance floor with a varied mix of tunes from New York City and local DJs, including resident DJ Jordan Matthews.
Thursday nights in the Spiegeltent are devoted to Thursday Night Live, offering an eclectic range of live music for dancing. The leading exponents of klezmer, zydeco, and gypsy-inflected jazz are guaranteed to galvanize attendees into action, while exhilarating nights of swing, tango, and salsa come complete with pre-performance dance classes from the professionals.
Bard’s weekend Afternoon Family Fare offers entertainment for audiences of all ages, by musicians, actors, storytellers, and the perennially popular Bindlestiff Family Cirkus.
Before and after each performance, patrons can enjoy Dining at the Spiegeltent – indoors or outside in the beautiful gardens – with casual summer fare served at lunchtime on Saturdays and Sundays and at dinnertime on Thursdays through Saturdays.
The SummerScape Gala Benefit is on July 14, and the season draws to a climactic close with the SummerScape Closing Night Dance Party – free to everyone – on August 19.
Program details for all Spiegeltent offerings follow below.
Evening Cabaret
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30pm, July 6 – August 18
Tickets: $25 (over 21s only)
Fishtank Ensemble (July 6)
Tackling everything from wild Serbian and Transylvanian gypsy anthems to French hot jazz and flamenco, the fiery Fishtank Ensemble is the leader in high-energy, cross-pollinated gypsy music, and “one of the most thrilling young acts on the planet” (LA Weekly). Formed in 2005, the band features two explosive violins, slap bass, musical saw, guitar, trombone, opera, vocals, accordion, and banjolele. As the New Times SLO reports, “You’ll feel like you landed in a gypsy camp, gathered around a crackling fire while otherworldly musicians pied piper you into signing away your soul. And you’ll do it willingly because this is music to roast in hell for!” Small wonder, then, that last year’s show sold out the Spiegeltent.
Martha Wainwright (July 7)
French Canadian-American singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright – daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and sister of Rufus Wainwright – performs a retrospective of her songs, including selections from her recent album Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris (“Without Rifle or Shoes in Paris”), a tribute to the great French vocalist Edith Piaf. According to the BBC, “Wainwright is perfect for this project. …No one could be better placed to deliver these chansons, which couple feistiness and frailty movingly.” Indeed, when the singer performed a similar live program in the UK, the Guardian marveled: “If you close your eyes, you could almost be in 1940s Paris, listening to the young Edith Piaf as she captivates audiences with her songs of love and life. … [Wainwright] doesn’t sing Piaf’s songs so much as inhabit them.”
Les Chauds Lapins (July 13)
Led by New York’s Kurt Hoffman and Meg Reichardt, Les Chauds Lapins (“The Hot Rabbits”) use the instruments of traditional American music and an art-rock sensibility to get the tent dancing with French swing from the 1920s through the ’40s. The group has re-arranged long-forgotten French classics for banjo-ukes, string trio, guitar and winds, mixing the rootsiness of early American jazz with the lushness of a Bernard Herrmann film soundtrack. The Lapins’ third album, Amourettes, has been described as “a trip to the French café in your mind by a band that keeps bringing you back for more coffee and Gitanes. Simply a first class sonic getaway delightfully performed” (Midwest Record).
The Kid from Paris: Jean Brassard sings Yves Montand (July 14)
French Canadian singer/actor Jean Brassard celebrates the life of Yves Montand, from Italian boy to French icon. Winner of the 2012 Bistro Award for outstanding cabaret, “The Kid from Paris” presents an eclectic selection of French and English numbers from Montand’s five-decade-long career. After a recent New York performance, NiteLifeExchange.com reported: “Brassard…has every bit of the star quality of the artist he is reflecting. He is utterly amazing, a consummate talent. He is a singer, an actor, a song and dance man, a musician, a raconteur, a personality…It is pure showmanship.” Brassard’s solo tribute deftly laces songs, theatrical vignettes, and a first-rate narrative of the beloved French singer’s life, loves, passions, and politics, making this the perfect show to celebrate Bastille Day.
Wau Wau Sisters (July 20 & 21)
The Spiegeltent nearly split its seams each of the past two summers when the bawdy, trapeze-twisting, guitar-strumming Wau Wau Sisters returned with their sold-out “irreverent, sacrilegious, foul-mouthed, and uninhibited” (New York Times) vaudeville act. As the Village Voice explains: “The duo’s command over the large crowd is no surprise. They are, after all, two scantily clad young ladies crooning dirty songs. They are also, however, highly skilled circus performers and aerialists who unleash their lewd material with great cheer and singular archness.” With TV credits including the Isaac Mizrahi Show with Rosie Perez, the Sharon Osbourne Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, plus awards like Edinburgh Fringe Report’s Best Cabaret, the Wau Wau Sisters return this year for two nights. (May feature nudity.)
Weimar NYC (July 27 & 28)
For its third consecutive season, Weimar NYC rocks the Spiegeltent with the alt-cabaret extravaganza that Time Out New York dubbed “subversive, sexed-up, [and] slashingly political.” This year’s host is London cabaret star Dusty Limits, dubbed “The Trailblazer” by Time Out, which explains: “Groundbreaking performer and the artistic conscience of the London scene, Dusty Limits delivers his own elegantly acerbic ditties with the same wry assurance that makes him the compères’ compère.” Curated by Earl Dax, subject of a New York Times feature titled “The Impresario Who’s Keeping the ’80s Spirit Alive Downtown,” Weimar NYC offers two nights of burlesque, comedy, drag, and performance art. (May feature nudity.)
Mandingo Ambassadors: The Real Sound of Guinea in America (August 3)
Mandingo Ambassadors is the world-class Afro-jazz band headed by legendary lead guitarist Mamady Kouyaté, who launched his career in the Guinean dance bands of the 1970s, with Ismael Kouyaté, seen Off-Broadway in Fela!, as its charismatic lead singer. As the New York Times reflected after a live gig at the band’s Brooklyn base, “The music of the Mandingo Ambassadors has been structured to make you feel good. It puts dazzling vocal and guitar patterns over a rhythm section that is like a perfect system.” Rife with mellifluous, Latin-tinged rhythms and vocal melodies, and fleet, stinging electric guitar lines, “the music sound[s] loud and light and unfailingly right.”
Jackie Hoffman (August 4)
This summer sees the return of Jackie Hoffman to the Spiegeltent, following the success two years ago of her riotous cabaret Jackie Five-Oh!, which the New York Times calls “savagely funny.” With her signature blend of original tunes and biting comedy, Hoffman’s one-woman shows take aim at her own career on Broadway and film, offering an unsparing and hilariously caustic look at the theater community and more. The comedienne’s film credits include Legally Blonde II, Kissing Jessica Stein, Garden State, Mo’ Money, and Freaky Friday, while her stage work has earned Theatre World, Obie, and Jeff Awards. Hoffman’s long-standing Monday night cabaret-style gig at Joe’s Pub in downtown Manhattan has made her, as the Los Angeles Times reports, “a cult star.”
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus (August 10 & 11)
Hudson’s favorite first family of circus and perennial Spiegeltent sensation, the Bindlestiffs are back with their frisky, sword-swallowing, pie-throwing, plate-twirling neo-vaudeville fun, offering an evening of cheeky takes on circus tradition, spiced with a dollop of burlesque and topped with a twist of unique Cirkus sensibility that is not for the faint of heart. Their various high-profile appearances include HBO’s Real Sex, Late Night With David Letterman, the Today Show, New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall, and England’s Glastonbury Festival; as the New York Times would have it, their act is “fantastic. There are certain things that make New York City so incredibly special. And this is one of them.”
Two Man Gentleman Band (August 17)
Underground sensation the Two Man Gentlemen Band returns to the Spigeltent this year with hot, raucous, retro-vaudevillian swing, executed with passion and expert musicianship. The Gents’ style – musically and visually – incorporates elements of hot jazz, rhythm and blues, Tin Pan Alley, and western swing. Their “keen vocal harmonies” (New Yorker) recall ’20s and ’30s groups like the Mills Brothers, and their pithy, irreverent original tunes are full of lyrics “so off the beaten path as to be virtually cliché free” (Bluegrass Journal), making fans of such big names as Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, for whom the Gents opened a handful of shows last summer.
Le Chat Lunatique (August 18)
Le Chat Lunatique purveys a signature blend of western swing, classical, reggae, and doo-wop that its members like to call “filthy, mangy jazz.” The band comprises Muni Kulasinghe on vocals and gypsy/jazz-inflected violin; John Sandlin on guitar; Jared Putnam on bass and vocals; and the deep-pocketed grooves of Colombian drummer Fernando Garavito. At its home base in New Mexico, Le Chat Lunatique has accrued more than 20 annual awards for best band, best jazz act, and best song. The group’s other appearances include Texas’s South by Southwest Festival, Colombia’s International Jazz Festival, and gigs as far afield as England and Serbia. As PopRocketPress.com affirms, “These are true cats. …If you dig 1940s four-piece combos with enough upright bass, quick-thinking violin, steering-wheel acoustic guitar, and slaphappy drums to starch a crease down the leg of your Zoot, then you’re home.”
Thursday Night Live
Thursdays at 8:30 pm, July 12 – August 16
Tickets: $20
Roger Davidson & the Frank London Klezmer Orchestra (July 12)
Polyglot composer and pianist Roger Davidson teams up with Grammy Award-winning Klezmer master and trumpeter Frank London – founder of the Klezmatics and “at the fore of the avant-klez jazz movement” (Time Out New York) – to present a smorgasbord of Eastern European-inflected music with an all-star band. Davidson’s compositions blend Russian, Hungarian, and Israeli melodies with tango, waltz, and jazz. As New York Music Daily observed, “Minor keys, or for that matter waltz time, have seldom been so much fun.”
Ameranouche (July 19)
Featuring two French acoustic Gypsy jazz guitars and an upright bass, Ameranouche tours nationally and has released two albums inspired by the legendary Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. According to The Wire, the trio’s debut CD “is a superbly played collection of original compositions and Gypsy Jazz standards that clearly sets them apart as monster players.”
Starlight Swing Night: Swing Dance with Eight to the Bar
Lesson and performance by Linda and Chester Freeman (July 26)
Festivalgoers are invited to join professional swing dancers, Linda and Chester Freeman of Hudson Valley’s own Got2Lindy Dance Studios, who return after packing the Spiegeltent last year. Dance lessons start at 7:45pm, with live music from 8:30pm. This comes courtesy of Eight to the Bar, whose international tour schedule has included opening spots for Neil Young, Roy Orbison, and Ray Charles. Listening to Eight to the Bar has been likened to “driving along a time-warped highway precisely halfway between Count Basie’s Kansas City and the Supremes’ Detroit… : a colorful mixture of ’40s jive, ’50s melodrama, and ’60s Motown” (New Haven Advocate).
Noche Porteña: Woodstock Tango Presents a Night of Argentine Tango with Live Music for Dancing, Introductory Tango Class, and Special Dance Performance! (August 2)
For the past two years, Tango Night has been an enormous hit at the Spiegeltent, packing the house with dancers and tango aficionados of all levels. For one night only, patrons can learn how the tango is danced in Buenos Aires, birthplace of the most sensual of dances. The Spiegeltent hosts an “Introduction to Argentine Tango” class at 7:45pm with Ilene Marder, founder of Woodstock Tango (no partner or experience necessary). This is followed at 8:30pm by live music from one of the nation’s leading tango “orquestas,” complemented by music from the golden age of tango, again with Marder, who, as DJ “La Rubia del Norte,” has spun the tunes at the most famous “milongas” (social clubs) of Buenos Aires. The evening includes a special dance demonstration by world-renowned performers.
Buckwheat Zydeco (August 9)
Three-time Grammy Award-nominee Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr. is the preeminent ambassador of zydeco music: a uniquely American genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana, as a blend of Cajun music, blues, and rhythm and blues. USA Today calls him “a zydeco trailblazer” while, according to the New York Times, “Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Dural leads one of the best bands in America,” offering “a down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…, propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances.” Buckwheat Zydeco has performed with legends from Eric Clapton and U2 to the Boston Pops; at both of President Clinton’s inaugurations; on The Late Show With David Letterman, CNN, the Today Show, MTV, NBC News, CBS Morning News, and National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition, and in the 1987 movie The Big Easy.
Summer Salsa Night (August 16)
Bard’s attendees have the opportunity to learn how to dance salsa, merengue, and cha-cha with two of New York’s finest dancers, teachers, and choreographers: Diane Martinez (née Lachtrupp) and Johnny Martinez. The Gazette Reporter described them as “knockouts,” explaining: “Lachtrupp was ice to Martinez’s smooth Latin heat. Together, they crackled.” Dance lessons start at 7:45pm, with live music at 8:30pm, provided by Sensemaya. This is the salsa band voted “Best Latin Jazz” by Metroland, which describes Sensemaya’s sound as “a rhythmically infectious blend of Latin rhythms and jazz,” declaring: “When they take the stage, the groove takes over.”
Afternoon Family Fare
Saturdays and Sundays at 11am or 3:30pm, July 14 – August 12
Tickets: $15 (children aged three and up: $5)
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus (July 14 at 11am; July 15 at 3:30pm)
As in previous years, the Bindlestiffs offer not only sophisticated adult entertainment but family-friendly fun, bringing together elements of circus, sideshow, vaudeville, and cabaret to provide a stage for some of the most talented performing artists in the world. Jugglers, clowns, acrobats, and trapeze artists share the stage with musicians, magicians, dancers, daredevils, and more. As New York Cool reports, “simply nothing, but nothing, will deter them in their quest to bring the circus arts to new levels of skill and ever-expanding audiences.”
Carnival of the Animals and Peter and the Wolf (July 28 and 29)
Two of classical music’s greatest and most accessible masterpieces are expertly tweaked for today’s young audiences. The marvelous musical menageries of Carnival of the Animals – the best-loved work of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, focus of this year’s Bard Music Festival – and Peter and the Wolf, by Russia’s Sergei Prokofiev, receive new twists through Frederic Chiu’s brilliant piano transcriptions and David Gonzalez’s original and funky poetry. According to the New York Times, Avery Fisher Career Grant-winner Chiu “has a powerful, note-perfect technique. …Far more rare, there is real grace in his playing, an inborn elegance in his shaping of musical phrases. …He finds the lyric strand in Prokofiev’s idiom that most pianists trample underfoot.” Likewise Gonzalez, the former host of WNYC’s New York Kids and winner of the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from International Performing Arts for Youth, has been recognized as “one of the top children’s entertainers in the country” (Dirty T-Shirt). This family concert is suitable for children aged seven and above.
The Little Farm Show (August 4 and 5)
The Little Farm Show is an original musical theater piece for all the family, created and performed by Tannis Kowalchuk – North American Cultural Laboratory’s artistic director, and an actor, organic farmer, and mother besides – and performance artist Brett Keyser. The show kicks up some dirt with live music and high-spirited performances as it navigates through the history of agriculture from 10,000 BCE to today, exploring sustainability, local food systems, and organic farming. Steeped in history, philosophy, and information, the show is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining, asking audiences to consider their food choices and the effect those decisions have on their bodies, the environment, and society. As the River Reporter observes: “Inspired by her own life in the Catskills, and driven by the desire to see our nation return to sustainability, Kowalchuk has made the concept of farm living highly palatable and accessible.”
Aesop Bops! (August 11 and 12)
Fast-paced, funny, and packed with participation opportunities for its young audience, Aesop Bops! features a potpourri of the legendary Greek’s classic fables, including “The Lion and the Mouse,” “The Fisherman and His Wife,” and “The Turtle’s Shell.” Bringing to life a zoo full of animals, this feast of funky, physical storytelling comes courtesy of David Gonzalez, the former host of WNYC’s New York Kids and winner of the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from International Performing Arts for Youth. Gonzalez has been recognized as “one of the top children’s entertainers in the country” by the Dirty T-Shirt, which counsels: “If you get the chance to catch his shows live I would highly recommend it.” Aesop Bops! is suitable for children aged four and above.
SpiegelClub
Fridays and Saturdays from 10:30pm to 1am, July 6 – August 18
(11pm to 1am on July 14 and August 10)
$7 admission at the door, waived for SummerScape ticket holders (over 21s only)
Friday and Saturday nights continue with the SpiegelClub, which offers a late-night bar and dance floor, with resident DJ Jordan Matthews on Fridays and a rotating roster of guest DJs from New York City and the Hudson Valley on Saturdays, spinning a variety of tunes on a state-of-the-art sound and lighting system. It’s an exhilarating summer setting where audiences and artists gather under the disco ball to enjoy a range of dance music from pop to hip-hop, funk, and jazz, as well as the occasional theme night (swing, 80s, and more). Drinks and snacks are available throughout the evening.
Dining at the Spiegeltent
Dining at the Spiegeltent comprises classic summer fare à la carte – burgers and brats from the grill, fresh salads, gourmet ice cream, and handcrafted beers and wines from the Hudson Valley region. Patrons can dine indoors or alfresco in the lovely garden, with drinks and snacks available throughout the evening. Lunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm to 3pm (July 6 to August 19); dinner is offered Thursdays through Saturdays from 5:30pm to 8pm, (July 6 to August 18). Please note: on July 14, outdoor-only dining will be available from 1pm to 3pm; on both July 14 and August 10, the Spiegeltent will be closed for dinner. On August 12 and 19, lunch and dinner will be available from 1 to 5pm (and will only be available outdoors from 3:30 to 5pm on August 12). Dinner reservations are recommended for inside dining, and may be made through the Box Office, at 845-758-7900 or [email protected].
SummerScape Gala Benefit
On Saturday, July 14 at 5:30pm, a festive dinner in the Spiegeltent precedes the performance of The Imaginary Invalid in Theater Two. After the show, the celebration moves back to the Spiegeltent for a post-performance party with the cast and special guests. Benefit tickets include dinner, premium seats for The Imaginary Invalid performance, the post-performance party in the Spiegeltent, and the reward of supporting the Fisher Center. Further information and ticket reservations may be obtained through the Box Office, at 845-758-7900 or at [email protected]. (The Spiegeltent will be closed for regular dining on the evening of the Gala.)
SummerScape Closing Night Dance Party
Admission is free for all at SummerScape’s closing night dance party in the Spiegeltent on Sunday, August 19 at 8:30pm. Patrons are invited to celebrate the close of an amazing season with live music and dancing under the tent, or under the stars in the lovely SpiegelGarden. Food and drink will be available for purchase.
Chronological listing of events in the Spiegeltent, Bard SummerScape 2012
Friday, July 6
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Fishtank Ensemble ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Saturday, July 7
1–3pm: Lunch
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Martha Wainwright ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Sunday, July 8
1–3pm: Lunch
Thursday, July 12
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Roger Davidson & the Frank London Klezmer Orchestra ($20)
Friday, July 13
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Les Chauds Lapins ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Saturday, July 14
11am: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
1–3pm: Lunch (outdoors only)
5:30pm: SummerScape Gala Benefit Gala
8:30pm: The Kid from Paris: Jean Brassard sings Yves Montand ($25; over 21s only)
11pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Sunday, July 15
1–3pm: Lunch
3:30pm: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
Thursday, July 19
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Ameranouche ($20)
Friday, July 20
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Wau Wau Sisters ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Saturday, July 21
1–3pm: Lunch
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Wau Wau Sisters ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Sunday, July 22
1–3pm: Lunch
Thursday, July 26
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Starlight Swing Night ($20)
Friday, July 27
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Weimar NYC ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Saturday, July 28
1–3pm: Lunch
3:30pm: Carnival of the Animals & Peter and the Wolf ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Weimar NYC ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Sunday, July 29
1–3pm: Lunch
3:30pm: Carnival of the Animals & Peter and the Wolf ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
Thursday, August 2
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Noche Porteña ($20)
Friday, August 3
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Mandingo Ambassadors ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Saturday, August 4
1–3pm: Lunch
3:30pm: The Little Farm Show ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Jackie Hoffman ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Sunday, August 5
1–3pm: Lunch
3:30pm: The Little Farm Show ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
Thursday, August 9
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Buckwheat Zydeco ($20)
Friday, August 10
8:30pm: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus ($25; over 21s only)
11pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Saturday, August 11
1–3pm: Lunch
3:30pm: Aesop Bops! ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Sunday, August 12
1–3:30pm: Lunch
3:30–5pm: Dinner (outdoors only)
3:30pm: Aesop Bops! ($15; children aged three and up: $5)
Thursday, August 16
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Summer Salsa Night ($20)
Friday, August 17
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Two Man Gentleman Band ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Saturday, August 18
1–3pm: Lunch
5:30–8pm: Dinner
8:30pm: Le Chat Lunatique ($25; over 21s only)
10:30pm–1am: SpiegelClub ($7, waived for SummerScape ticketholders; over 21s only)
Sunday, August 19
1–3:30pm: Lunch
3:30–5pm: Dinner (outdoors only)
8:30pm: SummerScape Closing Night Dance Party (free)
SummerScape 2012: other key performance dates by genre
MUSIC
Bard Music Festival, Weekend One: “Saint-Saëns and His World: Paris and the Culture of Cosmopolitanism”
(August 10–12)
Bard Music Festival, Weekend Two: “Saint-Saëns and His World: Confronting Modernism” (August 17–19)
Round-trip coach transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available on August 10, 12, 17, and 19, for particular Sosnoff Theater performances. Round-trip shuttle transportation between the MetroNorth train station in Poughkeepsie and Bard is also available for some of the performances. A fare will be charged and reservations are required for coach and shuttle transportation. Check the website for schedules and details.
OPERA
Emmanuel Chabrier: The King in Spite of Himself †
Sosnoff Theater
July 27* and August 3 at 7 p.m.
July 29* and August 1 and 5* at 3 p.m.
Tickets: $30, $60, $70, $90
THEATER
Molière: The Imaginary Invalid
Theater Two
July 13*, 14+, 19, 20, and 21† at 8 p.m.
July 14, 15*, 18, 21, and 22* at 3 p.m.
Tickets: $45
* Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available for this performance. The round-trip fare is $30 and reservations are required.
† Round-trip shuttle between the MetroNorth train station in Poughkeepsie and Bard is available for this performance. The round-trip fare is $20 and reservations are required. Shuttle service is available for all performances of the opera.
+SummerScape Gala Benefit dinner and post-performance party.
DANCE
Compagnie Fêtes galantes
July 6* and 7† at 8 pm
July 8* at 3 pm
Sosnoff Theater
Tickets: $25, $40, $45, $55
* Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available for this performance. The round-trip fare is $30 and reservations are required.
† Round-trip shuttle between the MetroNorth train station in Poughkeepsie and Bard is available for this performance. The round-trip fare is $20 and reservations are required. Shuttle service is available for all performances of the opera.
FILM FESTIVAL
“France and the Colonial Imagination”
Thursdays and Sundays, July 12 – August 12 at 2 p.m. or 7 p.m.
Ottaway Film Center
Tickets: $8
Bard SummerScape Ticket Information
For tickets and further information on all SummerScape events, call the Fisher Center box office at 845-758-7900 or visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu.